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KPop Demon Hunters, Netflix’s hugely popular animated feature, has reportedly been ruled ineligible for this year’s Bafta Film Awards because of its streaming-first UK release.
The film, produced by Sony Pictures Animation, is expected to be eligible for the animated feature Oscar – and in other Academy Awards categories – because it had a qualifying theatrical run in the US simultaneous with its streaming debut.
Bafta rules stipulate that to be eligible for the organisation’s film awards a film must have been available theatrically to the UK public for the first time between January 1, 2025 and February 20, 2026. Animated features need to have had “At least ten commercial screenings in [the] UK for at least seven days in aggregate (or the equivalent of a minimum of 70 screenings).”
In “exceptional circumstances,” say the rules, “a film which has been available to the UK public through other patterns or forms of distribution (e.g. event cinema) may be considered for entry.”
KPop Demon Hunters debuted in the UK on Netflix on June 20 and only got a theatrical release in the territory, in its singalong version, over the Saturday and Sunday of August 23 and 24. It was released in cinemas again over the Halloween weekend.
Netflix appealed an initial ruling that the film was ineligible for Baftas because of its limited theatrical run, but the appeal was denied, Screen has confirmed.
In the US, KPop Demon Hunters also made its streaming debut on June 20, but it reportedly had theatrical screenings in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco for the week of June 20-26, qualifying it for Academy Award consideration. The singalong version was then released in cinemas over the same August 23-24 dates as in the UK.
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